Atlanta procurement leaders outline restructuring, training and tech plan and request roughly $5 million for FY26

ICPO Houston told the Finance Executive Committee that the Department of Procurement is restructuring to shorten procurement cycle times and return the office to core sourcing work, and asked for roughly $5 million in the FY26 operating budget.

Houston said the department is splitting into five teams — strategy, implementation, performance services, business operations and a matrix (agency-business-partner) team — so that sourcing strategy comes before solicitation and the implementation team can focus on execution. “Procurement really is a project and we have not been treating procurement as a project,” Houston said, adding that strategy has often occurred in the middle of the process rather than at the start.

The nut graf: leaders said the reorganization aims to reduce the department’s long solicitation cycle, improve supplier participation and strengthen contract tracking and post-award performance. Houston told committee members the office will also invest in software to automate project-management work, optimize Oracle where possible and roll out a contract management system.

In the body of the presentation, Houston listed the…